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Pyo Kyung-min

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

Stay tuned for Pyo Kyung-min's latest K-pop stories, where she digs into the backstories that matter. She’d love to hear from you — share your thoughts at pzzang@koreatimes.co.kr. After all, every article gets better with insights from those who love the scene, just like she does!

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K-pop

NEXZ returns to K-pop scene with bold, bass-driven 'Mmchk'

JYP Entertainment's seven-member global boy group NEXZ opened its 2026 chapter, Monday, with the release of its second single album "Mmchk," signaling a confident new push for wider recognition at home and abroad. The group, composed of Tomoya, Yu, Haru, So Geon, Seita, Hyui and Yuki, is returning roughly six months after its October mini-album "Beat-Boxer" and nearly two years since its global debut with "Ride the Vibe" in May 2024. To mark the occasion, NEXZ took the stage at a press showcase at Blue Square in Yongsan District, Seoul, just a few hours ahead of the album drop, so that members could discuss its creative process and what lies ahead. For Yu, whose birthday happened to fall on release day, the moment carried personal weight. "We're already entering our second year, and it still doesn't feel real," he said. "I still vividly remember our debut. We've gained so much experience along the way, and starting with this album, we want to work harder to introduce ourselves to even more people." The album title itself is deliberately hard to pin down. "Mmchk," the eponymous title track,

Apr 27, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
NEXZ returns to K-pop scene with bold, bass-driven 'Mmchk'
K-pop

From survival show to world tour: CLOSE YOUR EYES is just getting warmed up

About a year into its career and currently mid-tour, seven-piece K-pop boy band CLOSE YOUR EYES (CYE) is already releasing music that has something to say. The group, formed in 2025 through JTBC's survival program "PROJECT 7," dropped its first digital single, "OVEREXPOSED," Tuesday. It's a two-track release built around the concept of overexposure in photography — the point at which too much light wipes an image out entirely. The idea, as the group describes it, is about still wanting to leave a record of yourself when everything feels uncertain. "It's an appetizer," said Jeon Min-wook, the group's eldest, during an interview at The Korea Times headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. "Before a new side of us is revealed in the upcoming album, 'OVEREXPOSED' is a preview of what's coming." The single follows the group's third mini-album "blackout," and Jeon is clear that the narrative is intentional and ongoing. "We put a lot of meaning into 'Eternity,' our debut project. Then we woke up from 'blackout,' and we've spent a year," he said. "This single is an extension of that. It's a statement of

Apr 21, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
From survival show to world tour: CLOSE YOUR EYES is just getting warmed up
K-pop

CORTIS returns with 'REDRED,' doubling down on identity

Rookie K-pop boy band CORTIS is betting on a more defined sense of identity with its latest release, "REDRED," leaning into what the group describes as an "honest reflection" of its creative direction. The five-member group — Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon and Keonho — dropped "REDRED" on Monday as the prerelease track from its second EP "GREENGREEN," due May 4. The group debuted last August under BigHit Music, the HYBE Labels subsidiary managing BTS, with "COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES," quickly gaining traction for its hip-hop-driven sound that drew comparisons to artists like Travis Scott and Playboi Carti. The approach proved effective particularly among younger listeners, as tracks like "FaSHioN" and "GO!" spread across short-form media platforms. "REDRED" continues that trajectory, but with a conceptual frame. The track uses the colors green and red to draw a line between what the group embraces and what it rejects. "It's about what we pursue and what we stay wary of," Juhoon said during a media showcase held at YES24 Live Hall in Seoul's Gwangjin District on Monday, just a few ho

Apr 20, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
CORTIS returns with 'REDRED,' doubling down on identity
K-pop

NCT WISH debuts wistful new single at Seoul encore, wraps up 1st world tour

K-pop boy band NCT WISH unveiled its new song, "Ode to Love," at the Seoul encore of the group's first solo concert tour, closing out a global run with a message of warmth in a cold world. NCT WISH, the newest subunit under K-pop giant SM Entertianment's vast NCT roster, performed at KSPO Dome in Seoul's Olympic Park over three nights from Friday through Sunday, wrapping up "NCT WISH 1st Concert Tour 'Into the Wish: Our Wish,'" a 30-show run spanning 18 cities across the globe that launched last October. The Seoul finale came just days before another major milestone, as the group's debut full-length album, titled "Ode to Love," drops Monday. The 10-track record includes the title single of the same name. Just minutes before the final show on Sunday, the six NCT WISH members, Sion, Jaehee, Riku, Yushi, Ryo and Sakuya, met with press at the concert venue to reflect on the tour's end. "It was a performance where we rode a trolley for the first time and were able to perform up close with our fans worldwide," Sion reflected, thanking the group's fanbase, collectively known as NCTzens, for hel

Apr 19, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
NCT WISH debuts wistful new single at Seoul encore, wraps up 1st world tour
K-pop

BTS returns to Tokyo after 7 years, draws 110,000 fans over 2 nights

K-pop juggernaut BTS performed to capacity crowds at Tokyo Dome on Friday and Saturday, drawing 110,000 fans over two sold-out nights in the group's return to the venue since July 2019. The shows, part of a world tour tied to the group's latest album “ARIRANG,” marked the septet's return to one of Japan's most prominent concert venues after roughly seven years. Inside the stadium, fans waved light sticks in coordinated patterns that swept across the arena. Crowd chants grew louder during high-energy hip-hop tracks like “Not Today” and “MIC Drop,” with the audience closely tracking the group's delivery throughout the sets. A key moment came during “Body to Body,” the opening track from the group’s latest album. As the song incorporated the melody of the traditional Korean folk song “Arirang,” the crowd began singing along in unison, filling the stadium with a chorus that extended beyond the group’s vocals. In a press release from BigHit Music, HYBE Labels Chairman Bang Si-hyuk had pointed to the possibility of such a moment emerging during the tour. The members app

Apr 19, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS returns to Tokyo after 7 years, draws 110,000 fans over 2 nights
K-pop

Xdinary Heroes turns goodbyes into new beginnings on 'DEAD AND'

What does it mean to say goodbye? For Xdinary Heroes, a six-member band under JYP Entertainment, a goodbye is not the end of the story. It's where the story gets interesting. That idea sits at the core of "DEAD AND," the band's eighth mini-album set for release Friday. The wordplay of the title doubles as a thesis — for the band, a dead end can still become a door to a new start. "An end of a certain chapter may feel literally like a dead end," leader Gunil said during an interview with The Korea Times on Wednesday at a cafe in Seoul's Seongdong District. "But for us, the idea also signals a new beginning." Rather than starting with that phrase, the band built its way toward it. "We worked around the overarching theme of 'farewell,' and once the tracklist was finalized, we chose a title that fit," Gunil said. That theme finds its clearest expression in the album's lead single, "Voyager," selected through an internal vote. Musically, it balances the band's signature intensity with a more accessible structure. "'Voyager' has a sound that fans who like our signature hard style will enjoy, b

Apr 17, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
Xdinary Heroes turns goodbyes into new beginnings on 'DEAD AND'
K-pop

TOMORROW X TOGETHER trades lore for raw emotion on 'Stick With You'

K-pop boy band TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) returned Monday with a more inward-looking record, its first release since renewing contracts with its agency BigHit Music last August, as the group enters a new phase in its career. The five-member act — Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai — unveiled its eighth mini album, “7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns,” led by the emotionally charged single “Stick With You,” a track that lingers in the uneasy space between holding on and letting go. Known for weaving expansive fictional universes across releases like “The Dream Chapter” or “The Chaos Chapter,” and multiple “minisodes,” TXT is now stripping things back. Instead of lore, the members are stepping forward as themselves, channeling years of ambition and quiet doubt into the music. At a press showcase held Monday in Seoul, the group described the album as the result of candid conversations with their production team that were less about concept-building and more about taking stock. “As we entered our eighth year, it wasn’t as glamorous as peopl

Apr 13, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
TOMORROW X TOGETHER trades lore for raw emotion on 'Stick With You'
K-pop

BTS continues 'ARIRANG' tour in Goyang with firepower, heritage

BTS lit up the second night of its large-scale world tour — one that could signal a new beginning not only for the group but perhaps for K-pop itself — with a performance steeped in Korean aesthetics. The group is currently engaged in its "BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’" with three concerts, starting Thursday and continuing over the following weekend at Goyang Stadium, west of Seoul. The tour marks its return roughly four years after wrapping up "BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE" tour in April 2022. The Saturday show signaled a deep infusion of Korean aesthetics even before the official kickoff. Melodies of gayageum, a traditional 12-stringed zither, filled the venue alongside VCR visuals evoking ink-wash paintings, prompting chants of the group’s name from fans in anticipation. Shortly after 7 p.m., all seven members stormed in from the edge of the stage alongside a black-clad mega crew, launching straight into the hip-hop openers “Hooligans” and “Aliens.” Pyrotechnics and fireworks ripped through the air from the very start, but it was the group’s sheer command of the st

Apr 11, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS continues 'ARIRANG' tour in Goyang with firepower, heritage
K-pop

BTS fans flood Goyang ahead of 2nd night of 'ARIRANG' tour

Hours before showtime, the area around Goyang Stadium was already heaving with fans Saturday, as K-pop juggernaut BTS prepared to launch its new world tour, transforming the venue's outer grounds into a sea of purple, flashes of red and black tied to the group's latest album, "ARIRANG." Fans crowded around the stadium's exterior, taking photos, filming videos and adjusting outfits in the band's signature colors. Some held banners and light sticks, while others simply stood back to take in the scale of the gathering. Their conversations carried in multiple languages, reflecting the group's unmistakable global pull. BTS launched its "BTS WORLD TOUR 'ARIRANG'" with three shows in Goyang, located about 20 kilometers west of Seoul, beginning Thursday and continuing through the weekend. The tour will span 34 cities with 85 concerts across Japan, North America, Europe, South America and Asia, making it the largest tour ever mounted by a Korean act. Additional shows in Japan and the Middle East are also expected. Even outside the gates Saturday, the sense of occasion was unmistakable. Some fans

Apr 11, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
BTS fans flood Goyang ahead of 2nd night of 'ARIRANG' tour
K-pop

How K-pop drives album sales with lifestyle goods

In K-pop, the album is no longer just something fans collect. It has evolved into something they use, incorporating music into their daily lives through practical items. Long a cornerstone of the industry’s revenue model, physical albums have survived the streaming era not by combining with digital platforms, but by changing form. What began as CDs bundled with photobooks, posters and randomized inclusions evolved into merchandise such as keychain albums. Now, a new phase is taking shape, one that pushes albums beyond mere display value and into everyday utility. Belift Lab’s girl group ILLIT offers a clear example of that shift. Ahead of its April 30 return with the EP “MAMIHLAPINATAPAI,” the group unveiled a dog-shaped gua sha version of the album, including a functional self-care tool with the upcoming release. The object retains its real-world use while carrying the group’s visual identity. According to the agency, the idea was designed to reflect the B-side track “GRWM (Get Ready With Me),” with the gua sha evoking a beauty routine. The dog-shaped design also nods to a

Apr 11, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min
How K-pop drives album sales with lifestyle goods
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